"The heaviest thing in the world is an empty pocket."
Yiddish Proverb
Let's rephrase this a bit for the sales community...
The heaviest burden a sales rep can carry is an empty pipeline.
Indulge me for a moment, as I go on Yiddish rant!
Get off your Tuches (Butt), prospecting is 100% nonnegotiable!
Failing to prospect, and over time you will have Bupkes (zero, nothing) at the end of the month. How does that one feel?
Seasoned, highly tenured salespeople with inflated egos who feel they don't need to prospect are Shmendriks (idiots).
To each one of you in sales... stop the kvetching (complaining), stop pointing fingers and making excuses, take personal ownershipwhen it comes to prospecting for new sales opportunities.
I love my heritage. From my great-grandparents who came to the United States in the early 1900's to my grandparents and through to my parents, a series of life-long lessons were instilled or should I say overly reinforced in me.
We all can learn from our heritage, the stories and the life-lessons.
Through a bit of humor, bits of philosophy and quotes from some of the great ones, my hope is that this gives all of you something to think about.
SUCCESS IN SALES STARTS WITH HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
"As rare as honesty is, integrity is even more difficult to find.”
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Together, let's explore the following passage from Stephen Covey’s, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
“Integrity includes but goes beyond honesty. Honesty is … conforming our words to reality. Integrity is conforming reality to our words — in other words, keeping promises and fulfilling expectations. This requires an integrated character, a oneness, primarily with self but also with life.”
Let's stop right here for a moment and reflect...
If you struggle to become honest with yourself and carry yourself with integrity, then how do believe your clients and future clients will perceive you?
Today, how rare has honesty and integrity become?
It is concerning, sad and disheartening that year over year, salespeople rank near the bottom when it comes to trust. And whose fault is it?
Allow me to take you back to the ancient Greeks, and the philosopher Diogenes.
Diogenes was a Greek Cynic philosopher, who was best known for holding a lantern (or candle) to the faces of the citizens of Athens claiming he was searching for an honest man.
By holding a literal light up to Athenian faces in broad daylight, he forced them to recognize their participation in practices that prevented them from living truthfully.
He rejected the concept of "manners" as a lie and always advocated complete truthfulness under any circumstance.
Isn't this interesting...
Imagine your clients or future clients shining a flashlight in your eye forcing you to recognize the truths or lack thereof in your conversations?
Of course, this is far-fetched, however; what do you believe is going on inside their heads?
Let's flip back to my heritage, as I quote, Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb,
"For Judaism, truth, emet, is more than just a virtue. It is one of the three fundamental principles, along with justice and peace, upon which the world stands. In the words of the Talmud, “The signature of the Holy one, blessed be He, is truth.”
And folks this is how I was raised. To tell the truth was a fundamental principle in our household. It was valued!
WE ARE PRODUCTS OF HOW WE WERE RAISED
Salespeople are products of the environments they were raised in
My father was an Aeronautical Engineer, Rocket Scientist, as a civil service employee for the U.S. Air Force.
One of the first questions I was asked when he got home from work, "So, tell me and be honest, did you complete your homework?"
Being raised with an 'Ivy League' educated father was pressure all by itself. That single question became the measuring stick throughout my early years.
What I took into my sales career was honesty and integrity. I believe it got me to where I am today. There is no greater temptation to cut corners than in sales, especially where one can earn massive amount of commissions.
Sales professionals overcome this great temptation, as they rise to the occasion with high levels of character, one in which others revere. Your clients and future clients will soon covet what you have to offer.
When you are honest, your business grows.
SUCCESS ALSO INCLUDES BEING HUMBLE, ACCEPTING AND ENCOURAGING CRITIQUE
"The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice."
Proverbs 12:15
In my younger days, I ate a tremendous amount of humble pie. I had to learn how to accept and deal with critique, as school wasn't my favorite past time.
I had to learn how to ask the wise for help.
Question for all of you... What prevents you from asking the wise for help? Sage wisdom and advice is priceless.
I'm a firm believer that pride, ego and fear get in our way of success. We're human, we all make mistakes, and we are all not perfect.
Never think you're always right. Accept and encourage critique, feedback and help - especially from those more experienced than you.
Some of my best sales ideas have come from my clients, centers of influence and my mentors. I realized there was a wealth of information sitting right in front of me.
Unfortunately, I see many in sales who struggle with listening. I mean REALLY listening to their clients or even asking for help.
What a monumental and catastrophic mistake.
Be humble, be genuine, act on suggestions, and accept critique, as you can greatly improve your sales career.
Sales professionals accept critique, sales reps take it personal.
SALES REPS AND YIDDISH WORDS
The Yiddish language is a fabulous source of rich expressions, especially terms of endearment, complaints and insults. Or at least it was at my grandparents' house, especially at Saturday brunch.
Some of you might be saying to yourself, "What is Yiddish?"
Literally speaking, Yiddish means “Jewish.” Linguistically, it refers to the language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. These were Jews from Central and Eastern Europe, and their descendants.
Though its basic vocabulary and grammar are derived from medieval West German, Yiddish integrates many languages including German, Hebrew, Aramaic and various Slavic and Romance languages.
So..... Are you ready to get this Yiddish party started?
Far gelt bakumt men alts, nor keyn sechel nit. Translated... Money buys everything except common sense. Trust me on this one, if a sales rep could finance common sense they would, oy to they vey!
KIBBITZ - translated means to stand around talking and making wisecracks, and it can also mean to give someone advice and commentary when they are trying to work.
Whether in the past or present, walk into a sales bullpen from 7:45 AM to 9:00 AM on any given day and listen to all the sales reps discuss non work related chitter chatter. "Hey Bob, did you catch the football scores from the past weekend?", "Saw a great movie last night, you ought to check it out." Small talk amongst team members is healthy but get to work and stop the kibbitzing!
You've just lost an hour of productive work time. Sales professionals protect their time and pay attention to what's important... growing their business and taking care of their clients.
SCHMOOZE - translated means to chat.
Listening to a sales rep schmooze a client that they haven't seen for quite some time is fascinating. You wouldn't have to schmooze if you made a conscious effort to maintain a healthy, proactive and intentional business relationship. This is what sales professionals do best!
TCHATCHKE - translated means trinket or knick-knack.
All the company branded USB devices, calendars, pens and notepads... stop it as your clients have enough of your Tchatchke's!
Sales professionals consistently educate, engage and excite their clients by building rock solid relationships. It is not based gifting based but what they bring to the business table which is themselves.
SCHLEP - translated means to travel from one place to another when one would prefer not to or an annoyingly long journey.
“I had to schlep through traffic for over two hours for a meeting and it lasted only 15 minutes, OY VEY!” Suck it up sales reps as this stuff happens. A true sales professional will find a positive outcome in those precious 15 minutes.
NUDNIK - translated means a person who is a bore or nuisance.
Sales reps who consistently bring zero value, take their clients for granted but expect them to continue to do business with them are nudniks.
Do not allow your clients to view you as a nudnik, a pain in the ass, nagger, and nuisance!
SPIEL - translated means to give a long-winded speech about why people should do something.
When you meet with a new prospect, they don't want to hear your spiel... In other words, a long-winded sales presentation around how great you are, how great your company is, how great your products are, and all the promises I know you'll break.
Make it about them! Share with them how much you know about their business, why you and how much you care about them.
SAGE ADVICE FROM MY ZAYDE (GRANDPA)
My grandpa was a self-educated man. He had to drop out of school before the age of 10 to help support his family. His first job was working in the tobacco fields in Mississippi in the 1920's.
He always stressed to me you must have "Chutzpah" to succeed out in the real world.
My grandpa faced a ton of fears at a very early age, as do I and as do you. He would always tell me... "Each time you face your fears, you make a deposit into your chutzpah account."
The battles in life whether won or lost produce more chutzpah. Think about how this can play out for you in your sales career.
Chutzpah seasoned with charm translates as enthusiasm.
Charm strengthened by chutzpah reminds your clients and future clients you have a respectable, professional purpose.
Loaded with both, you can win and sell with confidence.
To quote Rabbi Tzvi Freeman,
"You have to recognize the world is not about you. There is some purpose, something that you and only you are going to have to get done. So chutzpah is the attitude where you say, ‘Nothing is going to stop me from making that happen.’"
Call it moxie, courage, guts, or chutzpah. Call it what you will. You better use it to make it happen, to stand out from all the other sales reps who all walk, talk and look the same.
Chutzpah just another way of saying no guts, no glory in sales.
I encourage you, give chutzpah a try. Chances are that your real clients and future clients will find it to be a refreshing change.
Thank you so much for going on this Yiddish journey with me.
Would you like to increase your sales success and fulfillment?
This was my goal when recording all-new materials for the new Selling from the Heart Masterclass, to increasing your sales success and fulfillment in your business.
If you enjoyed the Selling from the Heart book, you’re going to love this masterclass! It takes the tools given to the next level.
Have yet to read Selling from the Heart? No worries, you will receive an audio version as a part of the Masterclass. As an option you can get a free signed copy of Selling from the Heart (just pay for shipping and handling).
You can get your copy here - https://www.sellingfromtheheart.net/book
Together, we will go on a journey where we’ll dive into how to apply the ideas in the book to help you achieve even greater sales success.
With each of the 10 sessions, you’ll receive questions that will help you increase your sales in a way that also makes selling more enjoyable and fulfilling.
This masterclass is configured with you in mind where you can complete the course in chunks from any mobile device, iPad or computer, based on your availability.
You’ll also discover fun bonus materials throughout the course.
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